Chinese Dumplings

My trip to Houston lasted just a tad longer than I had planned originally. Lucky for me I am an overpacker so I was at least prepared. After going to church with Alex, Ash & Cindy, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Chipoltle and a trip to the Bike shop to buy my dad some stuff. Alex had been invited to dinner at a couple's apartment and asked me to join him. While I had planned on spending Father's Day in Tyler this year instead of Egypt, I spent it in Houston with Egyptians and some Chinese friends.

We showed up at Emma's apartment around 4 and were pleasantly surprised to see that WE were all going to cook our meal together. There ended up being 8 of us total and we all joined around the table to roll the Chinese dumplings. We had a blast! I love the idea of us all preparing the food together. It broke the ice and made for lots of laughter. Here is the progression of the meal in pictures!

Alex put the cabbage in a rag and squeeze out all of the water. He was obviously working hard (or he is just a good poser).

The cabbage is added to a bowl that already has some of the other items. I know there was some meat, some ginger, and hmmmmm....

Alberto & Alice were chopping the ginger. They are the sweetest couple!

This is the mixture once it was ready to be stuffed in the dough. I was really unsure of the look at first but I knew it would be tasty.

Emma (0n the right) was our teacher. She started with the "easy" way to roll the dumplings so that we would be able to do it. She definitely laughed a lot as we were learning. I loved her sweet spirit and playfulness as she taught and retaught us how to make them.

And here I am giving it a shot. I did get brave and tried a couple of the harder rolls but for the most part I stuck with the simple way. Alex got pretty good at the whole thing himself.

We forgot to get a group shot so this is as good as it gets!

WOW! We made a TON of dumplings!!!! There were enough for us to eat over 30 each... that did NOT happen.

Alex and Alberto being crAzy!

Once the dumplings are rolled you boil them, add more cold water, boil again, add more water, boil again and I am not sure what else.

Finally, it is time to eat! There were some different sauces to add. Here is Alex trying the first bite. He gave up on the chopsticks. :)

The spread on the table... they just kept coming and coming and coming and coming and coming and coming. They were definitely YUMMY and unlike the typical Chinese food I have ever eaten.

I mastered the chopsticks... I have NEVER been able to use them until now. Of course, I only tried once and then it was back to the plastic spoons.

Dessert

While I absolutely love the stories that are captured through pictures, there is so much that you cannot see and so much that I cannot share at the time. What I can share is this: God is at work in the hearts and lives of each one that was there. Thanks Alex for allowing me to share in the joy of gathering with new friends!!!

Emma has requested that next time they all get together for Alex to teach them how to make Egyptian food. I smiled.